


Three's Company

by PirateBunny



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Underage Drinking, future nathan prescott/victoria chase, not your cliche love triangle, platonic nathan prescott/victoria chase
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:54:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5374349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PirateBunny/pseuds/PirateBunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathan and Victoria both have crushes on the new student, Max Caulfield.</p><p>I suppose this is technically going to be taking place in the alternate universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Survey Your Kingdom

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the beginning of a little something that I've been working on.

The day before the first day of the final year of high school, also known as ‘moving day’. All students that were to be attending Blackwell Academy for their senior year were piling into the dorm rooms to get settled into the rooms that were to be their homes over the course of the next year.

Student after student was walking up from the road with boxes, suitcases, bags, and way more stuff than they were ever going to realistically need. Some were accompanied by their parents and/or siblings while others were taking on the task of moving in all on their own.

Victoria Chase, was not either. Her parents were much too busy of people to be able to be here today to help her, but that doesn’t mean she was going to be doing it alone. On the contrary, she was being assisted by her best friend, Nathan Prescott, and all of the perks that came with that.

There was no way the infamous Sean Prescott was going to allow his son (or anyone closely associated with him) to lug their belongings into the school by themselves, but there was also no way he was going to help them himself. No, he was much too busy, and much too important to be doing that. So, the man had hired some muscle to get the job done.

This meant that all Victoria had to do was sit back and relax while her few (expensive) pieces furniture and other belongings were taken into her room. She would get to the decorating of the tiny room later. Right now, it was time for her to work out her plan for the year. With Nathan helping her, of course.

The two of them were on the grass in the area outside of the dorms. Nathan was sitting, leaning back on his hands with Victoria lying down next to him, her head resting on his lap. “So,” Nathan spoke up as he watched a small girl carry three boxes stacked up on top of each other, blocking out her view, “You ready to rule the Vortex club?” He asked.

A sharp laugh left Victoria’s throat, “Is that even a question? Of course I am.” She stated as she looked up at him with the morning sun glaring in her eyes, making him look like nothing more than a large shadow looming over her.

Leaning back on one of his hands, Nathan used the other to remove a stubborn bit of hair away from his face, looking around the campus and almost feeling sorry for the students who had to carry their own belongings. Almost. “I give it a week until everyone knows who’s in charge around here.” He stated.

“A week?” Victoria asked while staring up at Natan’s silhouette, “I was thinking more like a day.” She continued, blocking the sun with her hand in an attempt to see her friend a little better, and because well, squinting causes wrinkles.

Using his free hand, Nathan helped Victoria block out the sun as he asked, “Is that so?” Smirking as he spoke, he hoped that the sun wouldn’t stop Victoria from seeing his sarcastic trademark that she had come to know quite well since they met all those years ago.

Although she couldn’t see Nathan very well, Victoria could still see the outline of his smirk. Smirking right back she responded, “That is so. Are you doubting my abilities already, Nate?” If she weren’t lying down she would have gently pushed him, alas she was rendered immobile by her relaxed position.

If he were to be totally honest, Victoria Chase was the one person in the entire world that he had never doubted for even a second. She had always been there for him, always helped him when he thought that there was nothing left for him. And although he’d love to tell her that, he never was one for all that mushy stuff. So, instead he said, “You know I’d never doubt your brilliant mind.” Despite his long list of flaws, complimenting Victoria was one thing that he was never bad at.

After a few more minutes of back and forth bantering, the pair drifted into a comfortable silence. Relaxing in the scenery surrounding them. The two may have seen Arcadia Bay as a small little shit of a fishing town, but damn, even they couldn’t deny that Blackwell was a beautiful campus.

Victoria closed her eyes for a little while, revelling in the feeling of the sun and cool breeze on her skin, leaving Nathan alone to look at all of the students and determine which were worthy of the Vortex Club party VIP rooms and which weren’t.

King of the Vortex Club. Nathan had always known it was coming, he almost felt as if he were destined for the role, but he never thought it’d feel this good to actually be it. He had his own little kingdom. A whole section of town were his actions weren’t dictated by his father.

A bright yellow taxi pulled up to the curb by the school, catching Nathan’s attention. He’d seen all sorts of different cars pull up to the school all day, but not one of them had been a taxi. Nathan couldn’t help but watch a short brunette climb out of the passenger seat and the driver scramble to the back of the car to unload four suitcases for the girl.

After she had paid the driver for his service, he immediately drove off, leaving the girl with four suitcases and only two hands. Jerk.

Shaking Victoria slightly to gain her attention, he subtly pointed to the girl trying to work out how to get all of her belongings all the way to the dorms,“Tori, Look at that.”

Victoria turned her head to look at what Nathan was pointing to and pouted as she spoke, “Poor thing, should we help?” At first, Nathan couldn’t tell if she was serious or not, but when no bitter laugh followed her question he realised that Victoria was serious. It had been a while since she considered genuinely helping someone. About a year to be exact.

Normally Nathan would say no, let her struggle, that she was beneath them, but there was something about the girl that made him want to help her. Maybe it was the asshat of a driver who left her all alone, or maybe it was the fact that she was kind of cute. Either way he said, “Sure.” And he and Victoria got up from their spot on the lawn to go and help the girl with her belongings.


	2. Just How Far Away Are The Dorms?

It was a sight to see, watching Nathan and Victoria help the short, slightly unkempt girl carry her belongings to the dorms. Everyone who knew the two were staring quizzically, with many coming to the conclusion that the girl was an old friend of theirs. That they would only offer this kindness to someone whom they were close with.

Towing a suitcase behind her, Victoria broke the silence between the three that was quickly becoming too awkward for her liking, “So, Maxine, where did you come from?” The taxi, the messy hair, and the look of pure frustration that only began to fade when Victoria and Nathan offered their assistance suggested just one thing. An airport.

Tilting her head from side to side in an effort to get a kink out of her neck Max answered, “Seattle, but I used to live here about five years ago.” Rolling her shoulders back, she added, “Also, I prefer Max.” Although she hated correcting people, she often found that it was to only way to ensure that they didn’t end up annoying the hell out of her. Plus, once she’s told them, they generally remember.

After Max corrected her, Victoria quickly said, “Oh shit sorry, Max.” Putting emphasis on the correct name before asking, “But Seattle, what was it like there?” Victoria had traveled quite a bit in her lifetime, but it was mostly either overseas or if they were going to somewhere else in a America it was to the grand opening of another gallery. And grand openings never really left much time for sight-seeing.

Shrugging her shoulders, Max responded, “Home is home, you know?” Honestly though, Seattle was hard. She was only just getting used to living there when she got the acceptance letter to Blackwell. At least she was going to be studying in a town that she liked to think she knew like the back of her hand, “It’s weird to be back though.” She admitted.

“I completely understand, whenever me and my parents travel to France I always feel like I’m returning to a second home.” Victoria said dreamily. She had spent the Summer vacation in Paris and when the time came for her to return to America for school, she was almost tempted to drop out just so she could stay a little longer. But if she wasn’t at Blackwell she’d miss out on being taught by Mr. Jefferson and also being a Queen for a year.

Sighing, Nathan playfully said, “Tori, shut up about France, I’m sure Max has no interest in it. All she wants to do is get all her stuff to her room.”

Max quickly stammered out, “Oh no, it’s totally fine. I don’t mind at all.” Nathan hadn’t said much since he offered to help her out, and frankly, his playful tone was not at all what she was expecting from him and threw her off guard. She was expecting him to be cold, intimidating, the way everyone was staring at him suggested that much anyway.

Nathan was smirking as Max spoke so quickly he almost missed what she said. Luckily, he was used to people be nervous around him. He was a Prescott after all. “You don’t have to pretend for her sake, Max.” He then threw in the line that he had been using to introduce Victoria since they were children, “Tori may be a fragile looking girl, but she’s a tough cookie.” He nudged Max gently with his elbow before winking at her.

Rolling her eyes, Victoria stated, “Standing right here, Nate.” Victoria had always hated when Nathan used that line and he knew it. Turning the conversation back on Max and her arrival/return, she asked, “So, Max, do you have a lot of people to catch up with?”

Looking down at the ground at the thought of the friend she had left behind when she had moved, Max said, “Just one.” It wasn’t something she felt like talking about with people she barely knew. Even if they were being incredibly nice to her. She heard one of them ask her who it was, but she was too far lost in thought to respond.

When Max didn’t elaborate on her comment, a silence surrounded the three as they neared the dorms. Nathan shot Victoria a quizzical look and she responded with a shrug of her shoulders. Coming to a stop in front of the stairs to dorms, the three were blocking the way in and out of the building. As everyone did their best to work around them Nathan and Victoria stared expectantly at Max.

“Max.” Victoria said in a sing-song voice, gaining her attentions, “Where’s your Blackwell home?” She asked.

Dropping the suitcases she had been lugging behind her, she began a frantic search through the bag that was hanging from her shoulder. It was an old ratted thing that under normal circumstances Victoria would have scoffed at, but it oddly looked good on Max. As if it were apart of her.

It took a minute before Max pulled out a folded piece of paper with all of her student information on it. Searching for the information she needed she said, “Uh, my room is on the...second floor.”

A gasp left Victoria as she registered exactly which floor it was, “So is mine, this is like destiny or something.” Backtracking slightly, Victoria said, “I mean, it’d be good for you to know someone else who’ll be nearby.” Max smiled and nodded as the group made their way up the stairs an into the building. Finally getting out of the way of everyone else trying to move in.

Victoria managed to hold in her excitement at the realisation that Max was going to be living right across the hall from her, even if it was probably the best news she’d heard all day. Max was cute as shit, and Victoria couldn’t deny that in such a small space of time she’d developed a pretty major crush on her.

Once all of Max’s stuff was finally in her room and she thanked the pair for their help. Victoria and Nathan left her alone to start unpacking by herself, but not before telling her to just let them know if they need any help.

Walking down the hall and away from Max’s room, Nathan couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle, “Destiny? Really?” He said as he laughed.

Nudging Nathan away from her, Victoria blushed slightly as she responded, “Oh, shut up.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here you have Victoria's terrible attempt at flirting and my incapability of understanding distances between places.


	3. Only Two

The photo’s were slowly being put up. One by one they were filling the wall and Max was finally getting the room of her dreams. Small. Cozy. And a wall that is covered with her favourite photo’s. Unfortunately, it was taking a lot longer than she had expected it to and she was finding herself becoming frustrated with the ever growingly tedious task.

Whipping out her phone from her pocket she scrolled through her contacts hoping that she might be able to find even one person who would come and help her finish. _Seattle. Seattle. Seattle. Probably hates my guts. Seattle._ Finally, Max saw a name of a person who was in Arcadia and hadn’t known her long enough to be mad at her. Nathan.

But was it too soon to call him and ask for help? Sure he had said that she was more than welcome to, that was why he gave her his number in the first place. But he may have just of done that to seem polite. He may not actually want to even talk to her again let alone help her stick photos to her wall. He may not even remember who she was.

It was another five minutes of Max staring at his number and psyching herself up before she actually hit the call button. As the phone rang in her ear she paced around the room, silently praying that he would simultaneously pick up and not pick up. If he did answer then she would have to word together a request for him to help her and risk him saying ‘no’. Whereas, if he just didn’t pick up at all Max could pretend it never even happened.

“Hello?” Nathan’s voice questioned through the receiver on her phone. _Dammit._ She mentally cursed as she flopped onto her bare bed. “If you’re there, speak up.” He was beginning to sound annoyed and Max realised that she hadn’t said anything yet.

Taking a deep breath, she began to babble, “Yeah, uh, hey. This is Max. Max Caulfield. You helped me with my bags earlier.” She was hoping that by explaining he’d remember who she was. Being forgotten by someone not even an hour after meeting them would definitely be a terrible start to a school year. A terrible start that Max didn’t think she’d be able to live down.

A light chuckle came through from his end before he said, “I know who you are, Max. You’re the cute girl who’s going to be living across the hall from Victoria.” Max felt her cheeks begin to turn red at being called ‘cute’ from a not-too-bad-looking guy. She had never considered her appearances to be anything more than average and couldn’t imagine anyone thinking of her in any way other than that. Average.

She took a minute to compose herself before responding while doing her best to not stumble on any of the words, “I don’t know about the cute part, but yeah, that’s me.” She ran a hand through her short brown hair as she kicked her legs of the side of her bed. Truly feeling like a teenage girl in this moment.

“You’re cute. Embrace it.” A smile found it’s way onto her lips as she heard him call her ‘cute’ once more. “I’m sure you didn’t just call to be complimented. So, why did you call?” He asked her.

Almost sad that he changed the subject she responded, “Right, I was hoping that maybe you’d be able to help me with something.” Her voice drifted off at the end of the sentence as her nerves began to take back control of her body. He was going to say ‘no’ and she knew it.

Nathan’s voice sounded almost playful through the receiver as he said, “Oh? What sort of something?” Max let out the breath that she was holding. At least it wasn’t a flat out refusal to help. That’s got to be worth something, right?

The wall was upside down to her as looked up at it from her position on the bed. For a minute she debated over whether or not she should tell him what she needed help with. In the end she decided not to out of fear of rejection and said, “I don’t really know how to explain it, but if you come to my room I can show you.” This way, if he did decide to come and help her, he could see for himself exactly what she was trying to achieve instead of imagining it in his mind based on what would surely end up being word-vomit from Max.

“I’ll be right there. See you soon, Max.” And with that he hung up, leaving Max shocked and holding her phone to her ear with no one on the other end. Completely alone with her thought while she waited for Nathan to arrive.

Wait. What if she was too vague? What if he thought it was a sex thing? His immediate agreement made Max think that Nathan thought it was a sex thing. She did not mean it as a sex thing. _Fuck._

\----------

Nathan had been chatting with Hayden, another member of the Vortex Club, when he’d gotten the phone call from Max. As much as he enjoyed Hayden’s company, he wasn’t going to ignore the ringing of his phone when Max’s name flashed on the screen. There was something about her that drew him to her.

Maybe that was why he now found himself walking down the hallway of the girl’s dormitory on his way to help Max with an unknown task. Surely the task had something to do with unpacking. Max didn’t seem like the type to want to hook-up the day before classes started. Although the thought had crossed his mind on his way over.

Knocking on the door, he only had to wait for a moment for Max to swing open the door and invite him into her room. With the suitcases and their contents scattered all over the room, it felt cramped. Despite having left her over an hour ago to unpack by herself, all Max seemed to have done was create a big mess.

Without saying a word, Max gestured to the wall above her bed. Turning to face where she was pointing, Nathan found himself staring at what seemed to be the beginning of a wall of photo’s. Photo’s that were all taken on instant film. Photo’s that weren’t all that bad.

Scratching the back of her head, she said, “It’s taking a lot longer than I thought.” Clearly. If it had been an hour and this was all she had done, there was no way she’d get the whole room ready for living in by the time classes started tomorrow.

He gestured to the mess around them, “And you still have the rest of the room to sort out.” Nathan pointed out.

As she looked around her room, Max had clearly forgotten that there was more to moving in than just making one wall look pretty, “Yeah, I guess I do.” She said, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

Turning to face Max head on, he suggested, “Okay, how about this; I’ll do this wall, filling it with the photo’s I like best, acting as an impartial critic, while you work out what you’re doing with everything else?” If it weren’t for the marks on his wrists, Nathan would have rolled up his sleeves as he spoke.

A wide smile played on her lips as nodded and said, “That works.” Turning around she bent down to pick up a small box that was on the couch behind her, “Here.” She passed the box to Nathan. Upon inspection it was filled with more photo’s on instant film. This girl clearly had her medium sorted out. Style? Not so much. But at least she had something. That was more than could be said about some.

The two worked in silence, and without the time anywhere in view to them, it almost felt as if it were standing still. As if they were in their own little world, completely the menial tasks they had set themselves.

Max was working on organising a system for her room. Everything getting it’s own place where it will be of highest efficiency for her everyday use. This year she had promised herself that she would stay on top of her studies in order to maintain her scholarship, and the best way she saw to do that was to have an organised work/living space.

Meanwhile, Nathan was working away on the photo wall. Trying to find the most aesthetically pleasing space for each photo. Trying not to have photo’s that looked too similar next to each other. While still putting photo’s of similar themes near each other. He was also making sure to space them all out as evenly as he could. Tasks like these eased his mind and helped him to relax, even for just a little while.

When he was done, he hopped off of Max’s still bare bed and looked at it. It looked good if he did say so himself, but there was something missing. The wall needed a little something extra to make it pop, to really stand out. “Max?” He asked, getting her attention, “Do you have any fairy-lights or something similar?” He continued as he vaguely gestured at the wall in front of him. Hoping that would explain that he thought she should hang lights around the photo’s.

Shaking her head as she spoke Max explained, “No, but my parents are coming down this weekend with some extra stuff for me. I can just ask them to bring some with them.” Nathan thought about Max’s parents driving to Arcadia Bay from Seattle just to help their daughter settle in to her new school. He also thought about how his father probably wouldn’t do that for him. _Happy and sad thoughts all at once. Good job, Nathan._

Nathan slowly nodded his head while responding, “Do that. I think that’ll make this wall complete.” Realising that he was probably overstaying his welcome in Max’s room now that he’d done what she wanted of him, he asked, “Anything else you need?”

If Nathan had watched Max’s face as she spoke he probably would have been able to see the disappointed look on her face as she said, “I don’t think so.” Unfortunately he was too absorbed in his own thoughts.

Turning to the door he said, “Alright, I’ll leave you to it then.” His movements were slow as he went the short distance from where he was standing to the door.

As his hand rested on the doorknob Max said, “Thank you, Nathan.”

A genuine smile appeared on his face at the sound of her saying his name. Looking over his shoulder briefly, he replied, “Anytime.” Opening the door, he gave Max a short wave, “See you later, cutie.” At the word ‘cutie’ he winked at her and made his was out of her room.

This was definitely a good start to the year, Nathan concluded. He couldn’t wait to tell Victoria all about the past however long it had been. God, she’d be so jealous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 2am as I post this, I apologise for any mistakes grammatically or otherwise.


	4. Victoria's Bedroom

The room was finally styled in a way that made it appear relatively spacious despite its small size and Victoria sat down on her couch to relax. Those three large portraits of herself had been a pain to put up, but they were definitely going to be worth it. They added a certain overall atmosphere to the room that she loved. Not to mention she looked great in those photos. The room wasn't complete yet, there was still little bits here and there that needed to be worked on in order for the room to look perfect. But it was definitely getting close to being done.

A light knocking came from the door before Nathan let himself in, not waiting for a response from Victoria. “Hey, Tori.” Looking around the room, he headed towards the bed that was sitting in the back right corner of the room. “Looks good in here.” He sat himself on the newly made bed, watching Victoria as she went to go sit at her desk, sorting out her little bits and pieces.

“Thanks.” She responded as she focused on the organising of her room. “What are you doing here?” It wasn’t intended to be rude, it was a genuine question. Victoria had expected Nathan to be locked in his room and making it look exactly how he wanted it to and ensuring that none of the ‘hired help’ had stolen and/or broken any of his furniture and smaller items.

Resting his elbows on his knees, Nathan leant forward, “Oh, I’ve just finished helping the lovely Max Caulfield with the decorating of her room.” He stated, watching Victoria carefully as he mentioned the girls name, gauging her reaction.

Victoria whipped her head around quickly to look at Nathan, before blushing and turning her focus back to her desk, embarrassed by her evident ‘intrigue’ with the new girl in school. Nathan smirked, knowing full well that Victoria had very quickly developed a rather large crush on Max. He then frowned at the thought that perhaps, he too, was starting to feel the same way.

There was no way that he could deny the joy he felt when Max had called him earlier, and his genuine desire to help her despite him being the kind of person to rarely help someone he barely knew. Being in her room had him excited and he wanted nothing more than to help her get her room looking exactly how she wanted it. He wanted to make her happy. Either he really wanted to be her friend, or he wanted something more. And it was more than likely that it was the latter one.

“Is that so?” Victoria asked, trying her best to speak evenly. She paused for a few minutes, staring at her camera, lost in thought. “Do you think we should invite her to tonights party?” She finally added, turning to face Nathan now that her blush had sub-sided.

Nodding slightly, Nathan pulled out his phone checking the messages he missed while he was helping Max and said, “I don’t see why not. Just go across the hall and do that.” There wasn’t too many messages, but there was one from his father which he chose to ignore for now. He didn’t particularly feel like having his good mood taken away from him just yet.

Victoria sounded helpless as she said, “I can’t do that, Nate. You saw how I was earlier.” Just thinking about herself from earlier had her getting embarrassed all over again. She had been so excited over little things, and she was babbling about stuff that she was now sure no one wanted to hear about. It was humiliating just to think about it all.

Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Nathan responded, “Who cares? I’m sure she didn’t even notice. Just go ask her.”

It was clear that Nathan was in a good mood and therefore there was no way to win this conversation. He was going to keep trying to convince her until she finally gave in. So she may as well just save herself a little bit of frustration and give in now, “I will later. Once you’re gone.” Of course, it doesn’t hurt to delay these things.

Raising one eyebrow, Nathan said, “I could go right now.” He was clearly joking, but that didn’t stop Victoria panicking slightly for a brief moment.

She quickly responded, “No, don’t. I need your help with some things.” That wasn’t exactly true, but it also wasn’t exactly false.

It was obvious that she was just trying to delay the inevitable, “What things?” Nathan challenged her.

After a minute of thinking, Victoria gave the incredibly vague answer of, “Just, decorating things.” Again, it was partly true. Nathan did have a very good knack for figuring out how to make small spaces look great. If he weren’t so set on being a photographer, Victoria would have definitely tried to convince him to become an interior designer or something similar. In fact, she had suggested it a couple of times as a backup plan, which Nathan had always dismissed as a joke.

Standing up from his spot on the bed, Nathan looked around the room while saying, “Alright, let’s get this started. Then I want to you to go and talk to her.” He wasn’t going to deny Victoria help, especially when finishing helping her would mean she would go and invite Max to a party.

A party would mean that both Nathan and Victoria would have more opportunity to get to know Max better. And maybe give both of them a clearer idea as to whether or not either of them actually want to try and pursue something with her.

“Fine.” Maybe this delay would help her think of what she was going to say to Max when she finally did go and talk to her.


	5. Knocking On Her Door

After an hour of Nathan and Victoria arranging and rearranging all of Victoria’s smaller items in her room, Victoria no longer had anymore excuses for delaying her conversation with Max as each and every item was in it’s perfect position. Nathan was staring at Victoria with a look that told her it was time for her to walk across the hall and go talk to the girl.

Sighing in defeat, Victoria left the room and took the few short steps that left her standing right in front of Max Caulfield’s bedroom. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door three times before adjusting her posture so that she was standing tall, emitting an air of confidence when in reality she was shaking with nerves on the inside.

It was only a few seconds before the door was opened and Victoria was looking down at a slightly confused Max. Smiling, Victoria quickly blurted out, “Hello, Max, I was just wondering if you would like to come to a party tonight that’s being held by the Vortex Club. Which, if you don’t know, is actually lead by me and Nathan.” As subtly as she could, Victoria attempted to catch the breath she had lost.

Taken aback for a second, “Oh, uh, yeah that sounds good. Although I’m not really the partying type.” Max responded, blushing slightly at the confession. Despite being almost 18, Max Caulfield hadn’t been to too many ‘typical teenage parties’ she much rather preferred staying home and watching a movie or taking photos.

Victoria felt herself regaining her usual confidence. Knowing that Max wasn’t that big into parties almost made Victoria feel like an older, wiser being that could help guide the young Max towards a better, more sociable life. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to be too big of a party. Classes do start tomorrow after all. It’s just a chance for some of the newer,” She gestured to Max. “Students to get to know some of the people they’ll be spending the next 12 months with.” Victoria explained.

That didn’t sound too bad to Max, just a bunch of other students getting to know each other. It would definitely make going to class tomorrow a little less stressful if she knew at least one person who was going to be in some of the same classes. Nodding her head she said, “Yeah, sure. What time is it going to be?”

After checking the time on her phone, Victoria said, “It’s going to be starting in three hours or so.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “If you want you can come by my room and we can get ready together.” Surely it couldn’t hurt to make the offer.

Getting ready with someone else was something that Max hadn’t done since she was still hanging out with Chloe and they were getting ready for trick-or-treating on Halloween. It might be a nice, new, different experience now that she was nearing adulthood. “Sure, what the hell. I’ll be over in a little while.” Max said, feeling her excitement bubbling up inside of her at the thought. Victoria definitely seemed like a good first friend to make here at Blackwell.

Victoria’s smile widened as she heard the words leave Max’s mouth. She had been certain that she would say ‘no’ or at least hesitate a little bit before answering. But instead Max was incredibly enthusiastic about the whole thing. “I’ll see you soon then.” Victoria said, waving slightly as she moved across the hall back to her own room. There was plenty she needed to prepare. First off, finding the most perfect outfit for her debut as a Blackwell senior.

“See you soon.” Max responded as she began to shut the door to her room. She was definitely excited about the year to come. If everyone was going to be as nice as Victoria and Nathan, her final year of high school was going to be a breeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this chapter and the previous chapter were both so short. The next few will also probably be rather short in length. I'm doing this because I don't want to be putting these all into one long chapter simply because of my own personal preference in writing.
> 
> Of course this just means that there will be more frequent updates to this story. (I am also sorry for my short absence)


	6. Slightly Unexpected Company

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (what are chapter titles and how do people come up with good ones?)

Sitting in the swivel chair at Victoria’s desk, Max was doing her best to keep completely still as Victoria applied her makeup. The taller girl was taking her time to explain exactly what she was doing so that Max would be able to do it herself the next time she wanted to have her face done-up.

The brunette’s face was stiff, still, and looked completely uncomfortable. Sure, she does wear makeup most days, but she generally just puts on a bit of foundation, concealer, and eyeliner. That was it. She never spent hours on her face, not because she didn’t want to, but more because she’d never really had a reason to.

Just as Victoria was putting the final touches on Max’s face, a loud, pounding knock came from her door. Both girls turned to look at the door, staring at it, transfixed by the sound in confusion. Neither of them were expecting anybody else to be coming. After a moment, Victoria finally called out and inviting them in, “Doors open!” She stated.

Opening the door, Nathan came into the room with a bottle of red wine in his hand. Holding it up as he closed the door he announced, “It’s time for the drinks.” Both Max and Victoria stared at him before he continued, “Tori, don’t tell me that you forgot the most important step in preparing for a party.” He said in a mock-shocked voice, placing his empty hand over his heart.

The blonde girl's face breaks out into a smile when she responds, “Of course I didn’t forget, but I can’t say that I was expecting you.” She stated.

He frowned, “Why wouldn’t you be expecting me?” Nathan playfully asked, despite his words and wounded look on his face, no true hurt could be heard in his voice.

“Wait.” Max interrupts their banter, “I didn’t realise that there was going to be drinking.” At the realisation that she probably sounded like a total loser as she admitted her shock towards alcohol, Max blushed as she began to stutter out, “It’s just, you know, Victoria said it was going to be a small party. So I just assumed…” Max’s words drifted off into nothing.

“Max, you are so cute.” Nathan states, popping open the bottle before continuing, “But yes, there will be drinking. It wouldn’t be a Vortex Club party without it.” Taking a drink straight from the bottle he passed it to Victoria. “You don’t have to drink though, that’s totally your choice.” He quickly added when he saw the distressed look on Max’s face.

Victoria took in a mouthful of the drink, before ushering Max off the chair so that she could take her place and begin working on her own makeup. When she was sat down at her desk, she offered the bottle to Max. Silently asking her if Max wanted to have any.

Slowly, Max reached out and took the bottle, “Just one sip, I suppose.” Max decided as Victoria turned in her chair to face the small mirror she had sitting on her desk while Nathan moved to join Max on Victoria’s bed.

Max has her one mouthful of wine as Victoria picks out some earrings for her and starts applying her own makeup. Removing the bottle from her lips, she handed the bottle back to Nathan and put on the earrings, and adjusted the straps on the red dress that Victoria had given her to wear.

The dress fell a little lower than it was supposed to on Max’s body thanks to the height difference between the two girls, but it still hugged her body relatively well. And she could only imagine how well the dress would look on her if it were actually in her size.

Both Nathan and Max sat and watched Victoria get herself ready. Nathan, drinking from the bottle and occasionally passing it to Victoria. Max, watching in awe as the already stunning Victoria somehow managed to make herself look even better with just a few products.

After a few minutes of mostly silence between the three, Nathan offered Max the bottle. “No, but thank you.” Max responded. She didn’t want her first social appearance to be her completely wasted.

Bringing the bottle back to himself, Nathan brought it up to his lips before saying, “Sticking to your decisions. I like that.” And then having another mouthful of the drink.

Busying her hands by putting on a pair of heels, Max awkwardly thanks him, doing her best to not look at Nathan out of fear that he would see her blush from the compliment. After half-expecting Nathan to laugh in her face, she was more than pleasantly surprised with the compliment he gave her instead.

Victoria began working on her eyeliner,  when Nathan loudly sighed before asked, “How much longer are you going to take?” As he placed the quickly emptying bottle of wine on the desk next to her in preparation for her to take her next sip.

Laughing, Victoria explained, “The more you complain the longer I’ll make sure I take.” Putting down her eyeliner, she grabbed to bottle and took one last large mouthful of the red wine before she put on her lipstick.


	7. Nights Of Fun Leads To Mornings Of “Huh?” Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, I'm a piece of shit who has not yet finished this chapter despite working on it for ages, so here's the first 'half' of it. I'll do my best to get the rest of this chapter up soon.
> 
> Please don't hate me for my slow updates.

Morning light began to shine through the windows of the dorm rooms, causing a slight stir from all those within. Rolling onto her side and placing a pillow on over her face, Max did her best to block out the sun and all thoughts regarding the fact that today was the first day of classes for the year. The first day of what was hopefully the beginning of her photography career. The first day that she was going to be listening to the wisdom of the one and only Mark Jefferson. The first day in her entire life that she could honestly say she was well and truly hung over.

When the night before had begun, she had not intended on drinking anything. And she had managed to keep to that promise to herself for the first few hours into the night. Unfortunately after a while she began to feel left out. It definitely wasn’t fun being the only sober one at a party, Max had decided. And she succumbed to the peer pressure, much to her own dismay.

Now, as the light of day fills her bedroom, she could honestly say that she couldn’t remember anything from the night before except for a few snippets here and there. Which, when played in her mind couldn’t possibly all be from the same night, nor could all of it have actually happened.

Firstly, she recalled standing on a table dancing as some of the other party-goers cheered her on. Next, she was sitting at a table and explaining why she preferred analogue cameras over digital. She could remember her and a bunch of other people all sneaking into the swimming pool and just sitting on the pool’s edge, dipping their toes in the water. There was a brief moment in which she saw herself in a lip-lock with a faceless being. And another moment of her, Nathan, and Victoria all laughing and trying to keep quiet as they made their way back to the dorms in the dark.

The order of these memories were unknown to her and she did her best to try and fill in the blanks as she covered her face and kept her eyes tightly shut. Movement from the mattress made Max’s eyes shoot open, throw the pillow across the room and bolt upright into a sitting position. A headache overcame her and she leant forward, clutching her head as she willed the pain to stop.

There was someone else in the room, and they were right next to her. In her bed. How could she have let that happen? Not to mention she had a splitting headache after spending last night drinking way too much despite having her very first classes of the year today. Max was without a doubt, an idiot.

Slowly turning her head so that she was facing the person in question, she saw familiar light brown hair in a mess atop his head. Nathan was lying face-down on Max’s bed, and hugging one of her pillows. Blinking three times, Max looks down at her body releasing a sigh of relief when she saw that she was fully dressed. Sure it was still the outfit she had been wearing last night, but at least it was clothes.

Stretching she looked around the room, at her couch, her plant, her desk, then the rug on the floor. Having to take a second glance at the rug and look at the sleeping figure on her bedroom floor. With no pillows or blankets near them, except for the one that Max had thrown only moments earlier, Max came to the conclusion that Victoria Chase had fallen off of the bed at some point in the night.

Sighing, she got up out of bed and turned to look at herself in the mirror. Makeup was smeared over face and her hair was sticking up in every direction thanks to the hairspray she had used the night before. Why hadn’t she taken a shower before she went to bed?

Looking down at her phone, which was thankfully on her bedside table where she put it every night, she unlocked it and checked the time. 6 am. She still had some time to get ready and make it at least look like she didn’t spend the entire night at a party. Of course, there was still the problem of her two guests.

Bending down she shared Victoria gently, hoping that she wasn’t the sort of person who was too grumpy in the morning, “What?” Victoria mumbled out before she slowly opened her eyes, “Where am I?” She asked as she looked around the room before seeing Max’s face, “You look like shit.” The tired, and confused girl commented.

“Thanks. You don’t look too great yourself.” Max replied, standing back up and going to her bed. “We have class kinda soon, you might want to get yourself ready.” She suggested as she began to shake Nathan awake.

Victoria stood up and stretched before yawning out, “He’s not going to like you doing that.” Walking over to the mirror Victoria stared at her own reflection, trying to work out if she should just clean it up and maybe give it a touch up, or if she should remove all of her makeup completely and start from scratch.

Max was now shaking Nathan with more effort seeing as he was showing no signs of being woken up from her gentleness, “He needs to get up sooner or later.” Victoria merely shrugged in response. If Max wanted to piss Nathan off first thing in the morning that was her problem not Victoria’s.

Finally moving, Nathan pushed the hands that were shaking him away from him, grumbling something along the lines of ‘if you don’t stop i’ll kick you, tori’ much to Max’s own amusement and Victoria’s slight offence. Surely Nathan knew her well enough to know that she never woke him up like that. If she were going to wake Nathan up she’d either call his phone, text him, or start playing music obnoxiously loud. She would never try to shake him awake, she’d learnt the hard way that that was not the way to go.


	8. Nights Of Fun Leads To Mornings Of “Huh?” Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I have finally finished this chapter completely. I am sorry for the delay.

Throbbing. That was to only way to describe how Max was feeling in this moment. Not only was her mind throbbing with a killer headache, her entire body was throbbing. She could feel the blood coursing through her veins and she hated it. Never in her life had she been so aware of anything as much as she was aware of her blood in this moment. How was this feeling even possible?

Mr. Jefferson was sitting in the centre of the room, resting against an empty desk as he explained what would be learnt during the time in his class. And as much as Max wanted to listen to every word he had to say, to show that she respected him as a photographer and a teacher, the only thing she could focus on was how loud his voice seemed and how much she wished it would stop reverberating in her mind.

Resting her head in her hands, she looked at Jefferson, hoping that he would assume she was paying attention if she was staring in his direction. When he turned to face some of the students behind him, she glanced over at Victoria who was issuing her a sympathetic smile. Returning the gesture, Max closed her eyes for a moment while trying her best to block out all the noise around her.

This must have been the first time that Max had ever been hungover, Victoria was finding herself thinking. Not that being experienced in the feeling made it any more bearable. She could feel bile rising in her throat as Jefferson spoke about how he expects the students to be going out into the world and taking photos of everything that caught their eye.

All that she wanted was to be back in Max’s room, wrapped up in a blanket with both Max and Nathan as the three lay in their pain and regret. Covering her face with said blanket as she blocked out all sound and light, maybe drinking coffee if any of them could find the will to go and get some. If only today hadn’t been the first day of class. If only they hadn’t all gotten so drunk that they could barely remember the night before. If only.

Even though she was full of regret, Victoria smiled as she thought about this morning. Max had been so worried about everything. About getting to class on time. About knowing exactly what had happened the night before. She had been doing her best to get answers from Victoria and Nathan, but much to her disappointment neither of them really knew much more than her.

When asked why she had woken up to Victoria lying on the floor and Nathan lying next to her in bed, Nathan had said something along the lines of having one of the best sleeps he’d in what he thought was probably months and figured that it had something to do with a mix of an intense amount of alcohol shutting him down and being near other bodies. Needless to say, he wasn’t much help. Not that that was too much of a surprise. Nathan never had been much of a morning person, and when he was hungover he was even less help than usual.

Meanwhile, Victoria simply explained that she had a vague memory of falling asleep in the bed, so she could only assume that she had fallen out at some point in the night, but had been too tired to realise and so continued to sleep on the floor. Which had been surprisingly comfortable, probably thanks to the alcohol that was still swimming in her system.

Victoria had then gone onto suggest that they all just wait until they had a moment to talk to someone who hadn’t had as much to drink during the party. That although said person may not be able to answer the bed question, they might be able to piece together the rest of the night for them. All they had to do was wait until they found someone who wasn’t a big drinker. Unfortunately, with the Vortex Club, that was unlikely to happen.

“Miss Chase, please at least pretend to pay attention when I’m speaking. I know that listening to an old guy like me go on about my expectations of you isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, and I’m sure Miss Caulfield is much more interesting, but it is only the first day of class. Surely you couldn’t be bored with me already.” Mr. Jefferson stated, causing a blush to creep across Victoria’s cheeks as she realised she’d been staring at Max for what was probably much longer than she should have been.

Turning her attention back to him and away from Max, “Sorry, it won’t happen again.” She mumbled out.

Smiling gently at Victoria, Mr Jefferson continued, “I hope not.” Turning to Max he continued, “And Miss Caulfield, I would greatly appreciate it if you didn’t fall asleep in my classes. It’s a bit of a disappointment to know that one of my students finds me that much of a bore that they decide to sleep instead of listen.” He glanced back at Victoria who was now sitting straighter in her chair and doing her best to not pass out from her mind-splitting headache, “I know that you too probably had a wild night of partying last night, but next time, please do a better job of hiding it.” He finished his little lecture and went back to talking to the class.

Despite having just been told off for not paying attention, Victoria stole another glance at Max who was now looking as red as a tomato and as uncomfortable as…well, as uncomfortable as Victoria was feeling. Oh how much she wished to give Max a hug right now and throw a blanket around her.


	9. Discoveries

Being able to hold one’s liquor. It’s a gift really. A gift that Taylor had found out that she possessed at what was perhaps considered to be ‘too young’. But her age was besides the point, the point was that she very rarely drank enough to black out. Victoria knew that she knew everything that had happened at the party, what Victoria didn’t know was why Taylor wasn’t telling either her, Max, or Nathan anything despite their incessant questioning.

To be honest, Taylor was simply having too much fun knowing that none of them could remember anything that they had done that night. And boy, had they done a lot. Of course, she was also feeling slightly guilty about not telling them. They had a right to know. It was their lives after all. It wasn’t exactly her place to keep secrets.

“Taylor, come on. Just tell us.” Nathan stated as the four of them sat underneath a tree outside of the dormitories. He was beginning to get fed up with her silence despite her clearly knowing something. If she didn’t know anything she would have said so by now. He was also get real sick real fast of all of the students who would walk passed and stare at them. Sure, being a Prescott meant being used to having people stare at you and whisper about you, but he didn’t like it when people were staring at/whispering about his friends. Which they were doing right now with Max and Victoria. Perhaps even Taylor, he wasn’t sure. Either way, he wanted for either them to stop, or for Taylor to start talking. And Nathan knew which one was more likely to happen.

With a sigh Taylor finally gave in. She gave in for two reasons, first, the guilt was driving her mad. She wasn’t the type of person who chose to be cruel, that just sort of came with being both a member of the Vortex Club and being Victoria’s friend. Second, she gave in because there was no way in hell she was going to make an enemy out of Nathan. “It’s a long story, guys, so get comfortable.” She said and after a half-hour monologue and a little bit of stumbling over her words, the trio finally knew what had happened that night.

It had started like a normal party, everyone just talking, dancing, drinking and having an all around good time. No one had been too drunk (or too high) and the atmosphere seemed light, like there was no pressure to be anyone but yourself. A group of guests were talking about photography and their own personal styles when it came to their art, while another group was telling their most ridiculous stories after someone had bet that no one could top one of their experiences over summer.

And then Max started drinking which somehow encouraged everyone else to increase their alcohol intake. Dramatically. Soon, people were dancing on tables, jumping from ever increasing heights within the building, flirting with everyone they could find, throwing up in bins, and just being all around drunk idiots. It was a sight to see. In all her time partying, never had Taylor witnessed anything like it, and she was praying that when she woke up in the morning she would forget it all. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you are) she remembered every detail.

After a while of drunken idiocy, someone got the not-so-brilliant idea to break into the school’s swimming pool. Now, this wouldn’t have been a problem if the party was taking place on campus. Unfortunately, they were a 15 minute drive away from the school. Which meant a 30 minute walk back, thanks to the few people who were still sober enough to stop any idiots from attempting to drive. Mostly. There were a few who could not be convinced to walk and drove anyway.

Now, breaking into the school’s swimming pool sounds easy enough, but when you don’t have a key and no one present is sober enough to have good fine motor skills, it takes a while to get the door unlocked. Eventually, Hayden managed to get the door open with a little help from some bobby-pins gifted to him by a few of the girls. He had been thanked with a round of drunk cheers and pats on the back as everyone filed into the building.

This next part, Taylor emphasised was when things started to get good. Everyone was sort of just doing their own thing in the building. A few people were drawing graffiti in the bathrooms, others were going through the open lockers, some were dancing to the music from someone’s ipod. But Nathan, Max, and Victoria were sat on the pool’s edge, letting their legs hang in the water.

They were clearly talking to one another, but Taylor hadn’t been able to hear what they were saying as she was standing on the other side of the pool with the party-goers who had chosen to dance. Luckily, for the next thing that happened, she didn’t need to be able to hear them. Victoria had leant over and given Max a quick kiss on the lips before pulling away and continuing whatever she had been saying.

Both Max and Nathan had sat by the pool in shock, just staring at Victoria as she acted as if nothing had happened. And in her state, Taylor wouldn’t be shocked if she’d genuinely thought nothing had happened.

It was a minute or two longer before Nathan spoke over Victoria, who was still babbling on about something, and Taylor wished she could have heard what he’d said because it had resulted in Max turning her head towards him and receiving a kiss just like the one moments earlier, only this time from Nathan.

For what felt like forever, Taylor had accidentally watched the three of them in this exchange. They would all talk normally, while Nathan and Max, and Victoria and Max gave each other chaste kisses. It was bizarre to watch. She’d seen a lot of weird shit happen at Vortex Club parties, but she couldn’t recall ever seeing three people behave like that. As if they had all been dating one another for months despite having only met one of them that very day.

In amongst the innocent pecks on the lips/cheeks, there was also a number of make-out sessions that in all honesty seemed to get a little bit too heated at times. At least, too heated for the public eye to witness. And boy did they witness it. The trio received many cheers throughout their interactions and if they hadn’t been as drunk as they were they would surely have felt incredibly violated with all of the people witnessing their behaviour.

The night eventually began to die down, and everyone started heading back to their dorms. Nathan had decided that he was going to sleep in the girls’ dorms that night. That he was sneaky enough to get in without being caught. He wasn’t. He was so loud as he walked with all of the female Vortex Club members. A number of girls who had been asleep in the dorms came out to see what all the commotion was, only to roll their eyes and close their doors when they saw Nathan in the hallway. There was no doubt in Taylor’s mind that every single girl in the school knew where Nathan was that night and she had a suspicion that rumours were already flying around campus.

Taylor could honestly say that although she expected Nathan to go into either Victoria or Max’s room, she hadn’t expected all three of them to walk hand-in-hand into Max’s room. And when she saw that, she was expecting to not be able to sleep for a while. But not a single noise was heard coming from Max’s room at all after the door was shut. So Taylor had come to the conclusion that Max was either very lucky and had sound-proof walls, or they had all passed out the second the door shut.

All-in-all it was a very interesting night in Taylor’s opinion. A night that she partly wished she could forget entirely and partly wished that she had recorded every second of.


	10. Aftermath

Shocked. That’s probably the best word to describe how the trio was feeling at the moment. As the three of them made their way back to Victoria’s dorm room no one spoke. They simply walked in silence next to each other as each and every person they passed whispered and stared. The rumours of what had occurred between the three of them had already made it around almost the entire school and it wasn’t long until someone actually confronted them about it.

Two best friends who had done their best to keep rumours of them dating to a minimum for years and a girl they had only just met. At a party. Completely ruining any chances of a normal start to the school year.

Nathan had expected there to be rumours surrounding him. As the king of the Vortex Club and therefore essentially the school as well people were surely going to talk about him. As had Victoria as the queen, but neither of them thought it would have happened on the first day of school, or spread as fast as it did.

When the door to Victoria’s dorm shut behind them, Max expected something to happen. Someone to say something. Instead there was nothing. Victoria lay down on her bed and Nathan sat down on her couch leaving Max standing in the doorway, shuffling on her feet. The other two both had their eyes closed, blocking out the entire world in the process.

There was an urge within Max to say something, to point how odd this whole situation was to her. She’d never been the centre of attention at school in the past. Sure people knew who she was, she wasn’t shy, she got in other people’s business, but she still managed to avoid the gossip circle.

But despite that urge and the growing awkwardness she was feeling towards standing in a silent room that was not her own, Max stayed quiet and instead just moved to the couch and sat with Nathan. Joining the pair in their…meditation was probably the most accurate word to use. Closing her eyes, she did her best to just be in the moment and pretend that there wasn’t a whole school full of students who know exactly what she did the night before.

“So…” Nathan started, causing the two girls’ eye’s to snap open in attention and peer at him, “Last night was…well, I don’t really remember it but apparently it was wild.” He laughed out.

Sitting up from her laying position on her bed Victoria responded, “That’s one word for it.” She stretched her arms up towards the roof as she continued, “What are we going to do about it?”

Leaning back on the couch and resting his arms on the back of it, Nathan responded, “I’m not sure, but I think we should just ignore it. Not add fuel to the fire, you know?” Looking over at Max, Nathan continued, “That alright with you, Max?”

Honestly, Max was just planning on going along with whatever the other two decided on. It seemed like they knew most of the people at the school and therefore knew the best way to deal with the gossip they spouted. So Max just nodded in response to Nathan’s question. So much for an easy final year of high school.

Surely things couldn’t be as easy as ignoring the rumours to make them go away. What if it just made things worse? That must be a possible outcome. “Don’t look so worried, Max.” Victoria spoke, getting up from her bed and moving over to her laptop and logging in. “We know what we’re doing.” So, they had had experience with situations like this?

What sort of lives did those two live if rumours like these are common? Now that Max thought about it, are they really even rumours? The kiss is something that supposedly actually happened. Something that multiple people saw. If it’s true, is it a rumour? Max really wasn’t cut out for all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short update...I think I say that too often.
> 
> On an unrelated note, I am considering opening up writing commissions. If that's something that you'd be interested in having me do, please send me an ask/message on my tumblr: psychotic-bunny.tumblr.com


	11. Best Teacher At Blackwell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So...it's been a while, but I've decided to give this story another shot

It didn’t matter how hard Mr. Jefferson tried to keep the students attention on him, the whispers would always return. It had been three days since the Vortex Club party and the gossip about what had occurred between Victoria, Nathan, and Max made it’s way around the school overnight. And sadly, Max was coming to admit that she was getting used to it. It helped that no one tried to be even remotely subtle about it. One person even came up to her to ask her if it were true.

Blackwell Academy was bizarre. Of course Max never expected it to be like every other school, it was first and foremost an arts school. And art and weird always seemed to find themselves together. It was just a fact that Max had learnt to accept over the years. She didn’t mean to insult anyone with thoughts like this, it’s just something that she’d observed. Nothing more.

“Guys, please pay attention. You can’t honestly think that your gossip is more interesting than me.” Mr. Jefferson sighed, leaning against one of the desks. An action Max was quickly learning to be his signature stance while teaching.

Mr. Jefferson was definitely one of the better teachers at Blackwell. He seemed to at least try to understand his students and he always seemed to know exactly what to say to get his students engaged in the topic he was talking about. It probably helped that all of the students that took his classes were interested in making a career out of photography.

When the whispering died down Jefferson glanced in Max’s direction and offered her a sympathetic smile before continuing on with his lecture. So, it turned out that even the teachers knew what everyone was talking about. Great. Just great. It seems that nowhere was safe from the stories people told each other. Even if those stories were true.

Perhaps it was the truth of the story that made it so much more embarrassing to have everyone talk about it. It wasn’t just people making stuff up. It had actually happened and everybody knew.Thoughts like that had flooded Max’s brain those first couple of days. Thoughts that she would never be able to live it all down. That for the rest of the year it was always going to be circulating the school in some way. But Victoria had assured her that that was highly unlikely. All they had to do was wait for either the next Vortex Club party or for someone else to do something ‘scandalous’ as she put it. Which according to Victoria was more than likely to happen over the next week.

Luckily for Max, she was certain she would be able to survive just one week. It wasn’t like anyone was actually bothering her about it…you know, besides people who wanted to know what it felt like to have both Victoria and Nathan at the same time. And the weird thing was that those people didn’t even seem to be asking sarcastically, they genuinely wanted to know. Unfortunately, none of them would ever receive a satisfactory answer; that’s just what happens when you drink so much that you forget everything.

\----------

When Jefferson’s class was finally over, Max took her time collecting her things. The longer it took for her to leave the classroom, the less likely it would be that anyone would approach her in the hallway. At least, that’s what made sense to Max. The sounds of students leaving the classroom was music to her ears, even if she could hear them saying her name in not-so-quiet whispers.

Just as she thought the final person had left the room, a figure loomed over her desk. “Max, do you want to talk about it?” Looking up, Max stared into her teacher’s eyes. She watched as he pulled a chair over from a nearby desk and sat in front of her. “Because I’m here if you do. I know how harsh rumours can get, and I highly doubt that there’s any truth to this one. So please, use me as a way to let it all out,” He stared at her with a soft smile, “Think of this as a teacher-student counselling session.”

Again, Mr Jefferson was definitely one of the better students at Blackwell, even if he was wrong about one thing. “Actually, the rumours are true.” Eyes wide as he leant back in the chair, Mr Jefferson motioned with his hand for her to continue, “I don’t even remember it happening but I have it on supposedly good authority that it’s true,” With a sigh, she continued, “and if it is true then is it even a rumour? What do you call a rumour that’s true?” She asked him.

“When a rumour is true it’s still a rumour. No one but those who took part know to truth and seeing as you can’t even remember what happened, does it really count? If you don’t remember what happened to you, did it even really happen?” Jefferson paused for a moment to clean his glasses on his shirt. “Think of it this way, no one can say it’s true unless you, Victoria, and Nathan all say it is.”

Taking a minute to think over his words, Max attempted to justify his words; to pretend that they were true. That’s like saying if you murdered someone while drunk you didn’t actually murder them unless you remember doing it. If that were the case then every criminal could say that they didn’t remember it happening. That no matter how much evidence there was, if they didn’t remember it then it didn’t count.

Of course, Jefferson didn’t mean it like that, he just meant it in terms of high school rumours, “I suppose that makes sense.” Max concluded. It may not work in terms of life outside of school, but Max couldn’t deny that it made her feel a little bit better.

Getting up and putting the chair back in it’s place, Jefferson stated, “You’re a good girl, Max. Don’t get caught up in the wrong crowds.” That was Max’s cue to get up and take her things with her to the door.

With a wave and an, “Okay, Mr Jefferson.” Max left the classroom and made her way to lunch feeling ten times better than she did that morning. Mr Jefferson was definitely the best teacher at Blackwell.


	12. Waiting

As soon as science class had ended, Nathan had practically ran out of the classroom and across the hallway to the door of Max and Victoria’s photography class. Resting up against some lockers, he waited for either of the girls to leave the room. Person after person filed out of the classroom, a few gave a smile or a nod in his direction, but it wasn’t until Victoria came into view that he kicked himself off of the lockers.

Upon seeing her taller friend, Victoria went up to him and asked, “What’s up, Nate?” With a buzz from her phone, she fished it out of her pocket and started a texting conversation with Courtney. Still making sure that she was half listening to Nathan.

Shrugging a shrug that Victoria couldn’t see thanks to her eyes now being glued to her phone, he responded, “Not much,” Attempting to look passed her shoulders and at the door to the photography classroom he asked, “Where’s Max?”

A flourish of her fingers and she sent off a text before pulling her attention up to Nathan as she said, “Packing her stuff. I think she might want to be alone for a bit.” Sighing, she almost got a shock from another buzz from her phone. Almost. “This whole thing is really starting to get to her.”

Nodding, Nathan tried to read Victoria’s phone. Unfortunately he wasn’t the greatest at reading upside down, “I noticed, so I was thinking that maybe she could join us.” Surely having a group that she belonged to would help Max to feel as if she wasn’t as alone in the whole situation that she was surely feeling she was.

Glancing away from the screen of her phone and up at Nathan, she rose one of her eyebrows, “You mean ‘us’ as in the Vortex club?”

With a roll of his eyes, Nathan teasingly said, “Duh, Tori.” The small smirk that had found it’s way onto his lips slowly faded as he realised that Max hadn’t left the classroom yet. “She’s taking a while in there.” He added.

The sound of Victoria’s nails hitting the screen of her phone as she typed didn’t falter as she said, “Mark might be talking with her or something.” Her voice turned ever-so-slightly clod as she continued, “He’s favouring her a little bit if you ask me.”

If Victoria had looked up from her phone she would have seen the split-second scowl that formed on Nathan’s face, “That bothers you?” He asked. Nathan knew why he didn’t like the idea of Mr Jefferson favouring Max, but he couldn’t work out why Victoria would be upset with it, “You don’t like him, do you?” He braced himself for her answer.

“Oh please, of course not.” A short laugh escaped her lips, “But I can’t deny that he’d give a well needed boost to my photography career. Or Max’s. Or yours. Or anyone else’s for that matter.” Slipping her phone back into her pocket, she continued, “Besides, if you saw the way Max looked at him, you’d be jealous too.” With her voice turning into a whisper as she said those last words, she gave Nathan’s shoulder a gentle push.

That did not sound good to Nathan. Not at all. Max looking at anyone other than him or Victoria mad him upset enough, but the thought of that someone being Mr Jefferson made his skin boil. Clenching his fists closed, he took a few quiet but deep breaths, releasing a sigh of relief when Miss Max Caulfield emerged from the classroom.

Pushing passed Victoria, he wrapped an arm over Max’s shoulder, “You sure took your time in there,” He began walking her down the hallway, “Don’t tell me you’re becoming one of Jefferson’s groupies.” Nathan’s heart dropped when he saw the small blush creeping onto her cheeks, but it lifted back up at the thought it might just be because he was holding onto her so openly. Especially seeing as he had said that the three of them shouldn’t do anything that could add fuel to the gossip fire.

“I’m not a groupie,” Max hung her head and stared at her feet as they walked, “I’m just a student that he insisted on talking to.” Her voice was quiet and Nathan needed to lean down to be able to hear her properly.

“Was he keeping you there against your will or something?” Victoria joked as she caught up to the pair, wrapping her arm around Max’s waist.

A smile and a laugh from Max and her head was held a little bit higher, “Oh yes, he even threatened to blackmail me if I didn’t stay.” Nathan knew that the girls were joking, but he wished that they didn’t. They had no idea how close they were to the truth of that disgusting man’s nature.


End file.
